again! again!

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Orange blogged this. Not entirely sure I agree with all of its conclusions, but it's in the right general direction.

Pajiba's Guide to Third-Date Flicks: "Never underestimate the importance of third dates, folks. Third dates are where long-term determinations are made, where a relationship crystallizes, where you find out if the guy with perfectly mussed hair and a slobber-free kissing ability actually has something under the hood. While first dates test physical attraction, and second dates allow you, in varying degrees, to act upon that attraction, it is the third date where actual personalities are revealed. While first and second dates generally take place in public — restaurants, bars, movie theaters, or (for the luckier) park benches after last call — third dates tend to take shape on living-room couches, accompanied by light spirits, take-out, and DVDs.

Indeed, in many relationships, the figurative “third date” is where each partner presents his or her defining movie, the one film that epitomizes your personality — the piece of pop culture you put out there to reveal your essence, man. "

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Jump to the fine Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good to download the original sample for the Gnarls Barkley song 'Crazy'.

Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good: The Evolution of "Crazy": "Origin: You all have heard Gnarles Barkley's 'Crazy' (it's pretty much impossible to get away from at this point), but have you heard 'Nel Cimitero Di Tucson', which is essentially a raw instrumental form of Crazy. Unless you check alot of random world-music blogs (like me) you probably haven't. It seems that Gnarles Barkley heavily sampled the song, which comes from the soundtrack of the film, Preparati la bara! (IMDB link here).

It's very interesting to listen to the original version and be able to hear the progression to it's current chart-topping form, most noticeably the trumpets from the original were replaced with strings for Gnarles Barkley's version, but the bass line stays the same nearly the whole song though.

Unthirsty is a happy hour finder. You can plug in your address and it will provide you with the closest and greatest happy hour options. The information on the site is community driven so you can share your bargain booze tips with the world. Currently the site is focussed on the Portland and Seattle areas but it has the capacity to be a national finder with the input of jolly citizens everywhere. And of course your comments and suggestions are welcomed.

how much does it cost to be naked?

BATON ROUGE -- An LSU student has learned the cost of stripping naked and running across the field in Tiger Stadium during a football game: $1,624.75.

That's what Bretton Somers was ordered to pay Monday after accepting a plea deal that allowed him to escape a felony rap.

Instead of having to face the charge of obscenity, Somers pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of disturbing the peace, resisting an officer and criminal trespass. State District Judge Richard Anderson ordered Somers to pay a $500 fine, $500 to the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office, $300 to the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office, $200 to the LSU Police Department and $124.75 in court costs.

Anderson also forbid Somers from attending any sporting events at LSU while on probation for a year.

Somers, 33, and his attorney Alex St. Amant declined comment after the hearing.

Prosecutor Tracey Barbera said Somers' actions could not go unpunished.

"The important thing is that he accepted responsibility and he's facing consequences for his actions," Barbera said. "This kind of behavior will not be tolerated."

According to a sheriff's office affidavit, Somers ran onto the LSU field on Sept. 4, 2004 -- a rainy night in Tiger Stadium where thousands of fans gathered for a football game against Oregon State.

Deputies said Somers was extremely intoxicated but Barbera said that does not excuse his actions. The affidavit said that Somers was already naked when he got onto the field in the northwest end of the football field. He then ran toward the middle of the football field and eluded several deputies and officers from LSU and Louisiana State Police.

Police estimated between 80,000 and 90,000 people were in the stadium when Somers ran across the field.

An obscenity charge carries a minimum sentence of six months in jail. First offenders face up to three years and a fine of up to $2,500.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Interestingly enough, 'coke', 'mp3', and 'sleeping pill' didn't make the noun list. Nor did 'pornj' on the adjective list.

Ah well. I'll do my part. Last night, I wished I had some coke, but din't (sic). So i drank a bunch of Coke and when I needed to go to sleep, I took a sleeping pill. The whole time, I was listening to mp3s.

AskOxford: English Uncovered: the hundred commonest English words: "NounsThe commonest nouns are time, person, and year, followed by way and day (month is 40th). The majority of the top 25 nouns (15) are from Old English, and of the remainder most came into medieval English from Old French, and before that from Latin. The exception is group (French, from Italian), which did not appear until the 17th century.Notice that many of these words are very common because they have more than one meaning: way and part, for example, are listed in this dictionary as having 18 and 16 different meanings respectively. Another reason for a word's high position on the list is that it forms part of many common phrases: most of the frequency of time, for example, comes from adverbial phrases like on time, in time, last time, next time, this time, etc.1 time 2 person 3 year 4 way 5 day 6 thing 7 man 8 world 9 life 10 hand 11 part 12 child 13 eye 14 woman 15 place 16 work 17 week 18 case 19 point 20 government 21 company 22 number 23 group 24 problem 25 fact "

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

A Big Budget Anti-Suicide Bombing PSA - Newsweek The War on Iraq - MSNBC.com: "June 20, 2006 - Remember the egg, the frying pan and the message? 'This is your brain,' the ominous narrator told us before cracking an egg over the sizzling skillet. 'This is your brain on drugs.' Public service announcements have changed a lot since that foreboding culinary lesson. They now include exploding cars, flying Matrix-style stuntmen and exceedingly dire messages like 'Don't Suicide Bomb.' A new, American-made PSA aimed at discouraging these deadly attacks is currently in production. The ad is slated to air as a 60-second spot on Iraqi television this summer."

Download the MP3 audio version of this story here, or sign up for The Explainer's free daily podcast on iTunes.The World Cup kicked off on Friday, and defending champ Brazil will take the field against Croatia on Tuesday*. The South American squad features FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho, along with stars like Ronaldo, Cafu, and Fred. Why do so many Brazilian soccer players go by one name?That's the Brazilian convention. Nicknames and first names are used in all settings, no matter the gravity. Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is known to all by his nickname, Lula. Clergymen, doctors, and other professionals are frequently known by an informal name. The phone book for the town of Claudio even lists inhabitants by their nicknames rather than their surnames."

Friday, June 16, 2006

Again! Again! MixCD! MixCD!: "AgainAgain CD 02 - SUMMER! Finally, I've gotten off of my lazy wino ass and put together a mix for the summer sun. It's a blend of old and new with a surprising world music feel.

As always, please try to limit your downloads to 1 or 2 at a time. It keeps the bandwidth gods happy.

Researchers reported on Monday that drinking coffee cuts the risk of cirrhosis of the liver from alcohol -- by 22 percent per cup each day -- but they stopped short of saying doctors should prescribe coffee for that reason."

The actual line is 'And laid him on the green', from the anonymous 17th century ballad 'The Bonnie Earl O' Murray'. Wright gives other examples of what she says 'I shall hereafter call mondegreens', such as:

* Surely Good Mrs. Murphy shall follow me all the days of my life ('Surely goodness and mercy…' from Psalm 23)

The columnist Jon Carroll of the San Francisco Chronicle has long been a popularizer of the term and a collector of mondegreens. He may have been the chief link between Wright's work and the general popularity of the notion today.

While mondegreens are a common occurrence for children, many adults have their own collection, particularly with regard to popular music.

A popular joke has a child being asked what God's first name is, and he replies, 'Andy.' He gets this name from the hymn In The Garden (a.k.a. 'I Come To The Garden Alone': 'Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me, Andy tells me I am his own...' as opposed to, 'And he walks with me...'

Billy Connolly described several mondegreens he sang in church as a child:

* We will be tootle-ootle den ('We will be true to thee till death' from Faith of our fathers) * A wean in a manger ('Away in a Manger' using the Scottish word for a baby)"

There have been three major terror attacks in the West over the past five years?9/11, the 2004 train bombings in Madrid, and the 7/7 suicide attacks on the London Underground. For all the talk of a radical Islamist conspiracy to topple Western civilization, there are many differences between the men who executed these attacks. The ringleaders of 9/11 were middle-class students; the organizers of the Madrid bombings were mainly immigrants from North Africa; the 7/7 bombers were British citizens, well-liked and respected in their local communities. And interpretations of Islam also varied wildly from one terror cell to another. Mohamed Atta embraced a mystical (and pretty much made-up) version of Islam. For the Madrid attackers, Islam was a kind of comfort blanket. The men behind 7/7 were into community-based Islam, which emphasized being good and resisting a life of decadence."